


Wondrous Love

by Vahildr



Category: Reylux - Fandom, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Modern AU, Multi, Zookeeper AU, i promise no one dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 23:43:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6728122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vahildr/pseuds/Vahildr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey Niima and Ben Solo are constantly at each other's throats, to the point where it is assumed that they actually hate each other. Arlo Hux finds it both funny and exasperating, considering they are all roommates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wondrous Love

**Author's Note:**

> Zookeeper AU because I'm trash? And I needed to write it <3

(1)  
Rey Niima and Ben Solo are constantly at each other's throats, to the point where it is assumed that they actually hate each other. Arlo Hux finds it both funny and exasperating, considering they are all roommates.

It starts at 7 each morning, Rey walking into her pristine commissary to start on the diets that would feed The Coruscant National Zoo's 150-animal collection. Arlo Hux would come in, silent as always, and help with his raptor and reptile diets, and then the trouble would start, when Ben-fucking-Solo makes an appearance, demanding where the diets for Anikan and Padme (his precious Sumatran tigers), or one of his other carnivores, and lounging there, arms crossed as he watches her cut and weight the chunks of meat and bone, his tone sarcastic when she cuts the pieces just a smidged too small. 

And then, he's gone, leaving her in blissful peace, until later. 

(2)  
Three days a week, Rey and Arlo are spared from having the lurking presence of Ben in the commissary, a breath of fresh air from his loitering, though both keepers know for a fact he only does it to annoy them, though mostly Rey. 

When the pair arrives home, to their small, shared loft apartment, Ben is there, waiting with a cup of tea, perfectly made, for each, Irish Breakfast for Arlo, and Lady Grey for Rey. 

It wasn't exactly a secret that Hux and Rey were together, and as of yet, no one made the connection that Ben was also a part of their partnership, which always worked in their favor. 

(3)  
It was her day off, when Rey got a panicked call from Ben, his voice strained, close to tears. Ben was never that way, save for when...

Rey grabbed her purse and keys, making it to the zoo in record time, not hanging up the phone until she was there, arms wrapped around her lover's shoulders. 

(This was the point with which their relationship became public, she would later realize.)

It was Padmé, he confessed as they waited. The female, and a soon-to-be, first time mother. When Ben had made it to the zoo, she had been fine, and then he had gone to get the diets for his cats, and upon returning, he noticed her on the ground, unable to breathe, barely moving, blood staining the white fur of her belly. 

She was having trouble giving birth, and he called the vet, Dr. Dameron, and now he waited, fearing for the life of the cat he had helped hand-rear when her mother abandoned her. 

Two hours later, the vet's assistant, BB emerged, peeling bloodied gloves from their hands, a frown on their face, accompanied by a sad look in their usually carefree eyes, a look that only made Ben's sobs louder. 

Two cubs, they told Rey as Ben rushed into the examining room, to say a final goodbye to his Padmé. Two cubs, without a mother, needing to be hand-raised. 

(4)  
As a first responder, and the closest keeper to the incident in question, when Rey heard Hux call the code over the radio, she was there in a heartbeat, first-aid Kit in hand, assessing the situation with practiced ease. 

Working with birds of prey, Hux knew the dangers of working with animals like his, and knew that not everything could be prepared for, much less a child's terrified scream, most likely at a harmless snake, during the show. 

And Tarkin, the southern ground hornbill, had spooked, giving Arlo a sharp jab in the arm with his beak, wings flitting. 

With blood dripping down his arm and Tarkin safely away, Arlo muttered darkly under his breath, cursing birds for their distractibility. Rey laughed, sitting by him as the paramedics wrapped his wound, packing him into the ambulance to give stitches and painkillers. 

(5)  
When Rey saw that the three of them had a day off together, she was suspicious. Their days never lined up perfectly, in the four years they had been living and working together. 

Arlo had brushed her concerns off, and Rey let the boys plan their day, doing what any sane employee does: visiting their place of work, as a guest. 

Rey scoffed, but went along, failing to notice the secret glanced shared between Arlo Hux and Ben Solo. 

They did everything: giraffe feeding in the Savannah Oasis, the primate cruise, the train ride, even the carousel (Rey caught the ring, of course, winning her a free ride) and the various keeper talks and demonstrations scattered throughout the zoo. 

A nice lunch at the zoo's main restaurant, Jambo House, complete with a bottle of Rey's favorite wine, and the day was shaping up to be a pleasant one.

The last thing on their list was easily the most exciting, for Ben and Arlo, at least, and the show keeper vanished, having set Rey and Ben in the front, middle seats in the Canyon Theater, where the zoo's feature shows were held. 

They were there for the final show of the day: Scales, Tails, and Feathered Friends, the show that Arlo had a hand in, when he was working. 

The show started, and Arlo was nowhere to be seen. Rey was confused, until she saw a familiar bird appear: Tarkin, the southern ground hornbill, and the man in question right behind him. 

Flashing a grin in the direction of the sound booth, Arlo motioned for Tarkin to scurry in the direction of Ben and Rey, dropping a basket into Ben's lap in exchange for a mealworm treat. 

"Rey Niima, you've been a part of our lives for six years now, through thick and thin, and you have helped us in so many ways."

Hux's voice carried over the loudspeakers and Ben stood, lifting the small box and smiling at his girlfriend. Out of the corner of her eye, Rey noticed keepers, appearing from the woodwork, bright smiles on each face as Arlo hopped the fence, tossing another mealworm to the bird.

Ben got down on one knee, Arlo behind him, a hand on one shoulder. 

"Rey, will you do us the honor of marrying us?"

The ring was simple: a silver band, inlayed with opal, and there were two thicker bands inside as well. 

Rey nodded, unable to speak, and both men lifted the ring, slipping it over her finger, oart amidst clapping and cheering from the crowd. 

"Yes!"

(6)  
The cubs that Padmé had left behind grew quickly under the caring hands of both Dr. Dameron, his assistant, BB, and Ben. The day that they would be officially introduced, Rey was bouncing in excitement. 

The cubs were twins, and Ben had jumped at the opportunity to name them, already having names chosen. For the male, quiet and diplomatic like his mother, Luke. And for the wild, often temperamental female, he picked Leia. 

They would never meet their father, older males would sooner kill the still-young cubs, but they'd know others, soon enough. 

(7)  
The day that Rey, Arlo, and Ben were to be married, it poured. The plans for a wedding in the Savannah Oasis were dashed as the water fell, leaving the Canyon Theater the only dry place for a wedding. 

It was a quick shift, and soon, the bride and her two grooms were connected by name: Rey, Arlo, and Ben Hux-Solo (Rey had never cared for her surname. She had adopted it after leaving the foster care system, and embraced the opportunity to forget her roots). 

There was a reception, in the restaurant, a cake as wild as the trio it was for, with animal print, and statues of each of the three, dressed in their keeper uniforms, with figures of their favorite animals. 

Hours of dancing, and pictures, and laughs, and the rain let up enough for the trio to make their escape, venturing to their favorite spot in the zoo, look-out point, where you could climb, and see everything at once. 

Rey dragged them to the top, and she smiled as a soft breeze took the flowers from her hair, blowing them away. Ben brushed a strand behind her ear, and Arlo twined his arms around them both, resting his chin on her shoulder, watching the sun set in the distance, and all was well. 

FIN.


End file.
